Whiskey In A Teacup
by Thuck Caylor
Summary: Anna instantly felt a connection. And as she was about to leave, she had forgotten to buy souvenirs. Had forgotten to call Kristoff. Had forgotten to set up the alarm for tomorrow. But she did remember "her" name. Her name was Elsa and her name was beautiful and she was beautiful. And she wondered why it mattered. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Whiskey In A Teacup**

* * *

Anna Summers knew it will end up as a disaster, but nothing was going to stop her anyway.

"You'll ruin my appetite." Kristoff terribly muttered in disgust. "Let me rephrase that, you've already ruined it."

A boiling concoction of sticky, red sauce bubbled thickly in the casserole, and a pungent smell of burnt garlic and tomato paste hung heavily in the air.

"Jesus Christ, Anna! Whatever you're brewing in there will send both of us to the hospital!" the blond nearly hurled at the sight of it.

Anna rolled her eyes. "It's not as bad as it looks!" she tried to sound convincing, but apparently, her voice betrayed her. Even to her own ears, she sounded unsure and doubtful.

"This was a bad idea. I can't believe you talked me into this." Kristoff shook his head in disbelief.

The redhead frowned. Sure she's clumsy, untalented and quite a bit of an airhead sometimes, but that doesn't mean he could go on and rub it in all the time.

"You haven't even tasted it yet." she chastised.

"I don't need to taste it to know what it'll do to me." he responded with a mere shrug.

"How will you know you won't like it until you try it?" she persistently countered. Unfortunately, Kristoff isn't a big fan of the trial and error method.

"Then you try it first. If it's good, I'll dig in too." he finally said, knowing Anna would most likely take the bait since she's not one to back out of a challenge. Her chest puffed out and a grin was immediately plastered on her face. Anna scooped a spoonful of her cooking and blew on it several times before shoving it inside her mouth. It wasn't long before she wished she hadn't done that.

The redhead stumbled to the kitchen sink, choking and spitting the sauce out of her system. As if that wasn't enough to rid her of the entirely bad taste in her mouth, Anna gurgled and rinsed with tap water.

Kristoff sighed, rubbing his temples in the process.

"I've been trying to get it right for the past week! Maybe cooking really isn't just for me." she came to a sudden realization.

Kristoff felt the need to approach her and commend her for at least trying, but the apathetic words came tumbling out instead. "Come on, let's clean up the mess you've made."

"Alright," Anna pouted. "But what about lunch?"

The blond's phone buzzed. He checked up on it and hit the snooze button.

"That's my cue. I gotta go and pick up Sven from the vet." he apologetically told her.

Anna rubbed the back of her neck before nodding. Sad, as her friend was about to leave already. Noticing the sudden change in mood, Kristoff offered a promising smile to her.

"Hey, you'll get it right next time. You just need to keep practicing and you'll get better." he reassured, trying not to mess up his advice.

"Thanks Kristoff...and sorry for wasting your time." she muttered.

"I'm supposed to give this to you after you cooked something decent today," he fished out something from his pocket. "But since you're sulking, here."

He handed out a small paper to her. The redhead took it and read the label.

She gasped.

"Kristoff! This is—" he eyes went wide in an instant and she felt a rush of excitement coursing through her.

"A stub to the Sweets Festival downtown." he smugly finished for her.

"What—Where—How did you get one?" she laughed, unable to believe it with her own eyes.

"Long story short, I bumped to this guy Kai and helped him with a few things. Turns out, he works in a pastry shop participating in the event and he gave me two stubs in exchange for my gentlemanliness." he beamed, flashing her with his own prized ticket.

"Is that even a word?" Anna giggled. "When do you plan on going? Shall we go together?"

"Well, since it's a two-day event and I have part-time during Saturdays...then Sunday it is."

Anna frowned. "Hm, I guess we can't go together then. I've to run errands for mom on Sunday."

Kristoff's phone buzzed again, the alarm going off louder this time.

"I really have to go Anna. But I'll keep in touch. I'm gonna write a full page summary on what cakes to eat and to avoid." he winked.

Anna rolled her eyes. "You don't have to. I'm going on Saturday remember? And I plan on stuffing my face with everything they have to offer on display." She escorted him outside and kissed him on the cheek for good measure.

"I'll see you soon feisty pants."

Just as soon as he was out of sight, her growling stomach pulled her back to reality.

"What am I gonna have for lunch?"

* * *

Elsa Winters was feeling uneasy. She just came back from her vacation in her hometown in Norway, only to find her safe haven like this.

"Miss Winters, welcome back." greeted a well-dressed waiter.

"It's good to be back." she managed to reply with the same enthusiasm as the man. "Where's Gerda? I told her the cakes should be displayed on the left and the pralines should be next to the soufflés."

An amused chuckle reverberated inside the now closed establishment and a woman appeared to embrace the worked up lady to calm her nerves.

"You haven't changed a bit. Welcome back, Elsa." came the sweet reply of the older woman.

"And you thought I wouldn't notice how you deliberately changed the arrangement?" Elsa countered, a smile grazing her lips. "It's good to be back. I trust everything's set for the event?"

Gerda nodded before adding, "We're just waiting for your approval on the list."

Elsa scrutinized the items on the clipboard handed out to her as she placed a finger under her chin.

"Let's replace pudding with éclairs this time. Other than that, we're good."

Gerda took not of it immediately. "Right, of course. What of Sir Agdar and Norway?"

"Father's the same busybody as always, but we managed to get together during his working hours. Norway's a dreamland. I would've loved to stay longer, but duty calls." Unable to stop from yawning, Elsa excused herself to retire for the night. "I leave you in charge until tomorrow. I won't make myself useful and available in my current state."

"Of course. For now, make the most of your time and rest, dear."

And for once, Elsa Winters will do just that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Whiskey In A Teacup**

* * *

Kristoff wasn't much of a fan of sweets, but since his best friend was, and since Anna had messaged him long after he left to bring dessert from the fest, he figured he'd do that much.

He replied immediately.

[Kristoff: You're a greedy one feisty 're already going today, but you still want some for tomorrow. Don't blame me if you get diabetes.]

His phone beeped and he was already smiling at the redhead's response.

[Anna: You know one day isn't enough for me. Besides, I'm gonna pay you anyway.]

He was in the middle of composing a response when he received another message.

[Anna: And I won't get diabetes! I have a fast metabolism. Hmph!]

 _What's that got to do with the disease?_ He thought to himself.

[Kristoff: Alright. Make sure you've already taken dinner once I get there or no desserts for you. Anything you'd like in particular?]

[Anna: Haven't thought of anything besides chocolates. But if I get to taste something good, I'll let you know!]

[Kristoff: Noted. I better get back to work.]

Meanwhile, Anna was already preparing to head out downtown. She picked the most comfortable clothes her closet could offer—her favorite deep pink hoodie and black capri pants.

The redhead slipped on her low-cut sneakers and sling bag, all up and ready to go.

Anna arrived at the venue, unfazed by the crowd gathering in the square. She presented her stub at the entrance and got her fair share of a stamp in her wrist as proof. The scent came first. Sweet aroma filled her senses and she could already feel her mouth watering. It was the sight that came next. A beautiful assortment of sweets were organized from each stall, giving her a good view of everything.

"Wow!" Anna squealed in excitement, Her feet dragged her the floor and her hands grabbed a tray. She picked from each stall—from chocolates to cakes to pastries.

Anna found a seat, settled down and happily devoured her guilty pleasures. She was eating so fast, she was metaphorically inhaling the food.

 _They all taste the same even if they're from different shops, but they're good anyway,_ she thought.

Anna was nearly finished with her first round of sweets when she picked the final piece of oblong pastry, its top glazed in milk chocolate. She shrugged at first then took the first bite.

Then a second. Then another, deliberately chewing and tasting. She swallowed.

"This is good. Really good." In fact, it was the one that stood out the most from the rest.

Anna tried to hold onto the remaining bits in her mouth, hoping to distinguish the flavor. She stood up from her seat and began walking around.

"Where did I get that?" she muttered, searching thoroughly for the delicious treat.

She paced back and forth and had a tough time locating the distinctive pastry. Anna groaned.

"Ugh, why did I have to eat it without getting a good look at it first?" the redhead whined, and seeing as there's no getting around it, she grabbed every oblong shaped pastry there was from each stall. When she finished, there was a total of eight of them on her tray.

She settled down and began eating. Anna may suck at cooking, but if there's anything she's proud of, it's eating. She could easily tell if the food is good and distinguish whether it's lacking in one component or another. And from the fourth one that she tried, it still paled in comparison to the unique taste she had earlier. She tried another and another with no luck. She was down to her last two and at her seventh try, she finally found what she was looking for.

Anna didn't finish it but instead, headed out to the stalls once more. She found her pastry's match on the stall close to the end of the room. She read the shop's name: The North Pâtisserie.

"Excuse me," a voice called out to her in the crowd. "Is there a problem with my éclair?" Anna turned to see who the voice belonged to and nearly dropped the dessert she was holding.

The woman was beautiful and she had the most enchanting blue eyes Anna has ever seen. The redhead also noticed her pastel champagne locks tied neatly into a bun and alabaster skin decorated with a faint dusting of adorable freckles on her face.

"Miss?" the woman called out to Anna once more when the redhead only kept staring.

"N-No, there's absolutely nothing wrong with your um...what was this called again?" Anna wanted to disappear. Vanish in an instant because panicking wasn't helping in her case.

"Éclair." The sophisticated looking pastry chef smiled at her.

"R-Right! I was just—um, they're really good compared to others' and I'm still having trouble identifying the flavor so I thought I should get some more i-if that's alright with you?" she weakly laughed in an attempt to cover up her embarrassment.

"I'm flattered. And of course, you can have as much as you like. Ah," she stretched out her hand. "I'm Elsa by the way."

Anna reached out to the welcoming gesture and shook the chef's hand tentatively. "Anna Summers, but Anna would just be fine."

Elsa found the redhead's half-eaten éclair. "Oh, so you got the one with pistachio cream filling."

Anna's eyes lit up. "Pistachios! So that's what the nutty taste was."

Elsa smiled and got back to her station. "We haven't released these to the public yet." she explained, pointing out to six, different and beautifully hand-crafted éclairs lined up in an orderly manner.

"Wow, each one has almost the same size. You must be really meticulous." Anna blurted out. "Oh sorry! I'm not criticizing you or anything, just saying something based from observation."

Elsa found herself smiling yet again. "No offense taken. So, are you still interested in trying the rest of them?"

"You bet!" Anna enthusiastically replied.

"This one has orange filling." the blonde handed out a piece in which Anna gratefully took a huge bite.

"Ooh, zesty. It really goes well with dark chocolate." she shoved the remaining bit into her mouth, savoring the authenticity of the fruit in it.

Elsa filled the young woman's tray with more and Anna couldn't help but grin at the sight of it. The way Elsa refilled her portions made her heart soar.

"These are chestnut purée, rum-flavored custard, coffee cream and green tea."

Anna gleefully indulged on the remaining éclairs and wished the moment would last. She'd never felt so elated before.

"How were they?" Elsa asked, hands clasped together.

"Great! Everything is just...wow! My favorite's the green tea." she said, feeling an explosion of delectable goodness in her mouth. "Although I think coffee cream should be partnered with milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate to balance the bitterness and sweetness levels. Oh, but that's just me talking."

Elsa shook her head to disagree. "I'd gladly take that suggestion for improvement. Thank you."

"Thank you, too." Anna beamed. "Um, can I buy a box of twelve? Take home?" she blushed at he own question when she realized how ridiculous she sounded.

The blonde just chuckled. "I'm sorry Anna, but they're not for sale yet. But I can personally contact you once they're out in the market. Can I have your phone number?" she fished out her smart phone and Anna blurted out a combination of digits, feeling the air in her lungs leave her.

"And if you have inquiries or other concerns, here's mine." Elsa gave her minimalist calling card. It was turquoise with the shop's name engraved in bold and white in the middle. Elsa's name was underneath it and so was her number.

"For now, please help yourself to some more." the blonde generously offered.

* * *

Anna went home feeling stuffed and wonderfully satisfied. Sooner or later, she will have to thank Kristoff for such an amazing experience. Especially since she was able to meet—she took out the card given to her by the pretty pastry chef and gazed at the name written on it.

"The North Pâtisserie. Elsa Winters." she was busy admiring the sans serif font when she felt the need to read it again. The North Pâtisserie. Elsa Winters. Winters.

"I feel like I've heard that family name before..."


End file.
